Inkscape/Kerf Compensation

THIS PAGE IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. FULL INSTRUCTIONS IMMINENT (6/16/2014)

Intro

Kerf compensation is necessary if we want parts that match our drawings. If we do not compensate for kerf then our parts will be undersized. Below is an image showing several kerf positioning methods. Without kerf compensation, Online kerf happens and the radius of the kerf is cut away from the part. Male kerf compensation is the goal on a CNC torch table.
image source

Kerf Compensation Plugin for Inkscape

There are two ways to compensate for kerf in inkscape. One is to simply draw the part oversized to account for the loss of material due to the kerf. This way is not preferred because different CNC tables will have different kerfs as will different cutting tools on the same table. The second method is to draw the part to size and use a kerf correction plugin to automatically adjust the drawing to compensate for a user selected kerf radius. Note: this is only tested on a 32-bit Ubuntu 12.04

Instructions

What we are doing is (i think) downloading dependencies, then a new source, then compiling it to a new install which is separate from the original inkscape install. Please edit this description if you know better...

1. Give yourself a few hours to install this. Read these instructions fully before proceeding with step one.
2. First, install inkscape:
   sudo apt-get install inkscape
3. Now follow this link Stanford Wiki and install the plugin listed in step one there. By default, the inkscape extensions folder is:
   /usr/share/inkscape/extensions
4. Continue to step two on the stanford wiki page, recompiling inkscape with the instructions given at the link under step two. There is an issue with the first block of code given there. Use this instead:
   sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf automake intltool libglib2.0-dev libpng12-dev libgc-dev libfreetype6-dev liblcms1-dev libgtkmm-2.4-dev libxslt1-dev libboost-dev libpopt-dev libgsl0-dev libaspell-dev libpoppler-dev libpoppler-glib-dev libgnome-vfsmm-2.6-dev libssl-dev graphicsmagick-libmagick-dev-compat libwpg-dev bzr
5. Then install additional dependencies on this page: Inkscape Wiki Dependencies page Here is the block of code if you don't want to go to that page:
   sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf automake autopoint intltool libtool libglib2.0-dev libpng12-dev libgc-dev libfreetype6-dev liblcms1-dev libgtkmm-2.4-dev libxslt1-dev libboost-dev libpopt-dev libgsl0-dev libaspell-dev
6. Now continue to the next block of code on the inkscape kerf correction page
   • Note: Instead of ./autogen.sh use
     NOCONFIGURE=1 && ./autogen.sh
   • This "make" will take much time to complete. If you get an error in the ./autogen.sh or ./compile part then you don't have necessary dependencies. Good luck...

Links

Adding Offset for Kerf on Stanford Wiki
Inkscape Kerf Correction Compiling Instructions
Compiling Inkscape for Ubuntu Instructions from Inkscape Wiki
combine subpathes in touching points plugin